H.265

H.265 is a video compression standard developed by the Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC), a collaboration between the Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). It was designed to provide twice the compression efficiency of its predecessor, H.264, while maintaining the same video quality, and is widely used in various applications, including Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV) and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services provided by companies like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube. The development of H.265 involved the contributions of many experts from organizations such as Sony, Samsung, and Microsoft. The standard has been adopted by various industry leaders, including Apple, Google, and Cisco Systems.

Introduction

H.265, also known as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), is a video compression standard that offers improved compression efficiency and flexibility compared to its predecessors, such as H.261, H.262, and H.264. The standard was developed by the Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC), a collaboration between the Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), with the participation of experts from companies like IBM, Intel, and Toshiba. H.265 is designed to support a wide range of applications, including 4K resolution and 8K resolution video, as well as 3D video and virtual reality (VR) content, which are used by companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Disney. The standard has been widely adopted by industry leaders, including BBC, NHK, and ARD.

History

The development of H.265 began in 2010, when the Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) was formed to develop a new video compression standard that would provide improved compression efficiency and flexibility compared to existing standards, such as MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. The JCT-VC consisted of experts from organizations such as University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Los Angeles, and Georgia Institute of Technology, as well as companies like Ericsson, Huawei, and Qualcomm. The first version of the H.265 standard was published in 2013, and it has since undergone several revisions, with the latest version being published in 2019, which was supported by organizations like European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE). The development of H.265 involved the collaboration of many experts from around the world, including researchers from University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Technical_details

H.265 uses a number of advanced techniques to achieve improved compression efficiency, including intra prediction, inter prediction, and transform coding, which are similar to those used in H.264 and AVS (video compression format). The standard also supports a wide range of tools and features, including scalable video coding (SVC) and multiview video coding (MVC), which are used in applications like 3D television and free viewpoint television (FTV), developed by companies like Panasonic and Sharp Corporation. H.265 also supports the use of entropy coding and quantization, which are used to reduce the amount of data required to represent the video signal, similar to MPEG-1 and MPEG-3. The standard has been implemented in a wide range of devices and platforms, including smartphones and tablets from manufacturers like Samsung Electronics, Apple Inc., and Google Inc..

Features_and_advantages

H.265 offers a number of features and advantages compared to other video compression standards, including improved compression efficiency, flexibility, and scalability, which are similar to those of VP9 and AV1. The standard supports a wide range of resolutions, including 4K resolution and 8K resolution, as well as high dynamic range (HDR) and wide color gamut (WCG) video, which are used in applications like Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV) and cinema, developed by companies like Dolby Laboratories and Technicolor SA. H.265 also supports the use of object-based video coding and depth mapping, which are used in applications like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), developed by companies like Facebook Inc. and Magic Leap Inc.. The standard has been widely adopted by industry leaders, including Netflix Inc., Amazon Inc., and YouTube Inc..

Applications

H.265 is widely used in a variety of applications, including Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV) and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services provided by companies like BBC iPlayer, Netflix Inc., and Amazon Prime Video. The standard is also used in video surveillance and security cameras from manufacturers like Hikvision and Dahua Technology, as well as in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications developed by companies like Oculus VR and HTC Vive. H.265 is also used in medical imaging and medical diagnostics applications, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans, developed by companies like General Electric Healthcare and Siemens Healthineers. The standard has been adopted by various industry leaders, including European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE).

Comparison_with_other_codecs

H.265 is compared to other video compression standards, such as H.264, VP9, and AV1, in terms of compression efficiency, flexibility, and scalability, which are similar to those of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. The standard offers improved compression efficiency and flexibility compared to H.264, but it is more complex and requires more computational resources, similar to AVS (video compression format). H.265 is also compared to VP9 and AV1, which are open-source video compression standards developed by Google Inc. and Alliance for Open Media (AOM), respectively, and are used in applications like YouTube Inc. and Netflix Inc.. The standard has been widely adopted by industry leaders, including Apple Inc., Microsoft Inc., and Cisco Systems Inc.. Category:Video codecs